Breadcrumbs
by Sunlight through Leaves
Summary: Kakashi always carries a piece of home.


Title: Breadcrumbs  
>Summary: Kakashi always carries a piece of home.<br>Pairing: Kakairu  
>Rating: K+<br>AN: Written for Livruka's (TricksterLiv's) birthday. Beta'd by the lovely Kiterie

OOOOOOOOOOO

_Home _smelled of Iruka's hair. It hadn't always, of course; it used to be his mother's cooking mixed with the scent of blade oil. More recently, it had been dried blood and the particularly obnoxious tang of the anesthetic salve that he slathered on his wounds the minute he returned - the numbing effect tended to slow his reactions, and he dared not take that chance during missions.

But sometime in the last few months, both of those had been replaced. Weeks had gone by before he'd connected the feeling of overwhelming comfort that washed over him when Iruka emerged from the bath to the faint smell that permeated his hair. All Kakashi had known was that he never felt like he'd _actually_ come home until he was laying on Iruka's bed.

The pillow, the sheets, everything smelled of Iruka's hair. The one time Kakashi'd returned to an empty apartment, he'd peeled off his grimy uniform and curled into the blankets, ignoring the protests from his partially healed wounds.

He'd inhaled deeply and murmured, "I'm home."

The realization came with that utterance, and the minute Iruka'd walked through the door, Kakashi pulled him down and buried his face in the dark locks. _Home _was here. This moment. This place.

Home was a touchy subject for shinobi, because they spent most of their lives on the road. Most didn't like to think of home. Those thoughts tended to bring on regrets and wishful thinking that were detrimental to missions. Being away for months on end was hard enough, and a constant reminder of what they were missing made it doubly so.

In Kakashi's mind, that was patently stupid. The desire to survive came almost exclusively from the knowledge that _something_ was waiting for you, so he never left for a mission without a reminder of just what he was leaving behind.

This mission was no exception.

The act of leaving for a mission was a ritual that rarely changed. He packed his bag, checked his weapons and scrolls, and reread the mission assignment. Though it had never been part of the ritual before, he stood in the center of the room and breathed deeply one more time. The road never smelled like this.

Thiswas not only what he was fighting for, but also what awaited him, what would _always_ await him when he returned. His fingers dropped unconsciously into his weapons pouch to trace the thin locket that accompanied him on every mission.

He pulled it out and deftly popped the top open like he always did, checking the contents.

A corner of a dummy explosive tag that Minato-sensei had tricked him with - the thing shot out pink sparkles when activated. Between breathless laughs, Minato-sensei had told him that he needed to lighten up.

A tiny pressed flower Rin had given him, all blushes and trembling hands, and the one she had given Obito when he'd thrown a very vocal fit over her preferring Kakashi.

Behind it all was a scrap of paper that his father had drawn the Konoha mark on when Kakashi was barely old enough to roll over, let alone understand the meaning of the symbol. His mother had drawn a little stylized puppy just below it and had apparently chided his father for not being age-appropriate.

But there was something wrapped around it all that he had not put in there. He ran his finger over it, feeling the fibrous nature.

A chunk of hair, deftly bound into a minuscule braid.

"I thought it was about time that you had something of me in there." Iruka had backed away, finding a spot on the bed that was out of the way of Kakashi's ritual, and spoke for the first time. He toyed with a freshly cut lock that was now too short to be held back by his ponytail.

Now that he knew what it contained, Kakashi could just make out the faint scent of Iruka's hair coming from the locket.

_Home._

OOOOOOOOOOO

A bit of sweetness. There's something about Iruka's hair, isn't there? Or is it just me and Livruka? Anyway, enjoy! ~StL


End file.
